Big month for drama on Foxtel

31 March, 2015 by
Press Release

The latest and greatest drama is on Foxtel this April including local productions, new series, and highly anticipated returns of some of the hottest dramas ever seen on television delivering Foxtel viewers over 50 hours of premium first run drama.

Local productions Deadline Gallipoli (showcase) and Wentworth Season 3 (SoHo) are made for Foxtel filmed in bespoke locations around Australia using stellar Australian and international actors to portray their compelling stories.

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Foxtel’s showcase channel welcomes the return of the most talked about show in the world Game of Thrones Season 5, the final season (seven) of Mad Men, and VEEP Season 4. SoHo premieres the return of some of their most loved series, Outlander Season 1 Part B, and The Americans Season 3.

New and returning dramas exclusive to Foxtel this month also include Wolf Hall (BBC First), The Field of Blood (BBC First), Kingdom (FX), The Following S2 (FX), Togetherness (showcase), Reign S2 (FOX8), and Atlantis S2 (FOX8).

Deadline Gallipoli explores the Gallipoli legend from the point of view of war correspondents Charles Bean, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, Phillip Schuler and Keith Murdoch, who bore witness to the extraordinary events that unfolded one hundred years ago. The compelling four hour mini-series shown over two nights captures the heartache and futility of war as seen through the eyes of the journalists who reported it. Joel Jackson stars as Bean, Hugh Dancy as Bartlett, Ewen Leslie as Murdoch, and Sam Worthington as Schuler. Charles Dance plays Hamilton, the Commander of the Gallipoli campaign, Bryan Brown plays General Bridges and John Bell plays Lord Kitchener.

Wentworth draws on characters and elements of the iconic Prisoner series as it builds its own brave and bold, contemporary story. This ASTRA Award-winning drama has captured local and international attention for its high production standards, compelling storylines and terrific performances from the ensemble cast. Four months have passed since the events of Season 2 and having been returned to Wentworth following her successful campaign to kill Brayden Holt, Bea Smith has assumed the mantle of Top Dog, hailed by all – including Franky Doyle. Starring Danielle Cormack, Nicole da Silva, Pamela Rabe, Kate Atkinson, Celia Ireland, Shareena Clanton, Katrina Milosevic, Aaron Jeffery, and Robbie Magasiva.

HBO’s global phenomenon drama Game of Thrones returns with a fifth season of duplicity and treachery, nobility and honour, conquest and triumph. Based on the bestselling book series by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones is a 10-time Emmy®-winning drama set in the fantasy continent of Westeros, where ambitious men and women of both honour and ill-repute live in a land where summers and winters can last years. Though a fantasy, the series is driven by all-too-human ambitions and desires as kings and queens, knights and renegades, noblemen and liars vie for power.

Mad Men – starring Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, and January Jones – is an incredibly popular drama series that takes place in the 1960s at a New York City advertising agency on Madison Avenue. Since its premiere, Mad Men has been a critical and awards darling, scoring 15 Emmy Award wins (including four for Best Drama), and winning four Golden Globes® (three for Best Drama and one for Jon Hamm for Best Actor). As the series draws to a close in its seventh season Don Draper has finally begun to make progress in his career but he faces loss in his personal life. The final episodes include scenes where the partners of SC&P watch the historic Apollo 11 moon landing on television.

VEEP stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld) as former senator Selina Meyer who became Vice President only to find the job was nothing like she expected. After the President’s resignation in Season 3, Selena was sworn in as President turning her election campaign into a re-election campaign, however her struggles in the primaries could see her leadership tenure become one of the shortest in history. Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for VEEP for three consecutive years. Tony Hale has won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Selina’s assistant Gary. The show also stars Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Timothy C. Simons, Sukfe Bradshaw and Kevin Dunn.

The Americans is a period drama about the complex marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in Washington D.C. shortly after Ronald Reagan is elected President in the 1980s. The arranged marriage of Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) – who have two children who know nothing about their parents’ true identities – grows more passionate and genuine by the day. However they are constantly tested by the escalation of the Cold War and the intimate, dangerous and darkly funny relationships they must maintain with a network of spies and informants under their control.

Outlander continues in Part B of Season 1 to follow Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743 where she navigates the hidden dangers of 18th Century Scotland and an unknown world where her freedom and life is at risk. When she is forced to marry Jamie, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire's heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives. Also stars Sam Heughan and Tobias Menzies

Wolf Hall is the critically acclaimed six-part adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and its sequel Bring Up The Bodies. The lavish history drama chronicles the rise of Thomas Cromwell, the son of a humble blacksmith who became King Henry VIII's chief minister as he navigated the corridors of power in the Tudor court. Directed by BAFTA-winning Peter Kosminsky and starring Damian Lewis (Homeland) as Henry VIII, Olivier and Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance (The Other Boleyn Girl) as Thomas Cromwell, and Claire Foy (Upstairs Downstairs) as the calculating and ambitious Anne Boleyn.

The Field Of Blood is based on the best-selling crime novel from a series by Denise Mina. Set in Glasgow in 1982, Paddy Meehan is a young girl who dreams of being an investigative reporter and seizes the opportunity when a young boy is kidnapped and found murdered. Paddy sees connections to a year-old crime that nobody else sees and is determined to make it her story. But when Paddy crosses the line, she becomes outcast from her family and puts lives at risk. As she gets closer to the murderer the price of achieving her dream will prove greater than she can ever imagine.

Togetherness is a new “couples” comedy from HBO set in Los Angeles. Created by the Duplass Brothers, the series follows Brett and Michelle (Mark Duplass and Melanie Lynskey) who are struggling to rekindle the spark in their relationship, which has puttered out from the stresses of marriage and children. When Brett’s friend Alex (Steve Zissis) and Michelle’s sister Tina (Amanda Peet) move in with them, the foursome engage in a tragically comedic struggle to follow their personal dreams while still remaining good friends, siblings, and spouses to each other.

Kingdom is a raw family drama set against the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in Venice, California. When word gets out that superstar Ryan Wheeler is training with Alvey, finally Alvey begins to taste a bit of the glamour to go with the grit. He's willing to go through extraordinary means to make sure his fighters are taken care of but all of this success and responsibility comes at a steep price. Starring Frank Grilla, Kiele Sanchez, Matt Lauria, Jonathan Tucker, Nick Jonas, and Joanna Going.

In the season two premiere of The Following a healthy and healed Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) is living in New York City one year after his pursuit of serial killer Joe Carroll. On the surface, it appears that Ryan's gotten his life back together but deep down his obsession with Joe continues to grow. Then, on the anniversary of Carroll's death, a murderous new rampage leaves everyone shocked and determined to discover the truth. Starring Kevin Bacon, Shawn Ashmore, Valorie Curry, Sam Underwood, Jessica Stroup, Tiffany Boone, Connie Nielsen, and James Purefoy.

Reign explores what’s hidden between the lines in the history books about Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. The second season begins with Mary and Francis on the throne of France, however the nation is rocked by the aftereffects of the plague. From the ashes powerful lords will rise, carrying out personal, religious and political vendettas, taking lives, and tearing at Mary and Francis’ commitment to their people – and to each other. Reign stars Australian actress Adelaide Kane.

Atlantis is a fantasy drama set in a world of legendary heroes and mythical creatures from the same team who worked on BBC hit Merlin. Far from home, Jason washes up on the shores of the ancient and mysterious city of Atlantis. Fans were rocked by the shocking reveal at the end of the first series and in this season Pasiphae’s desire to reign has not subsided. Jason's personal involvement with Ariadne is surely a complication for Pasiphae, but will the knowledge that Jason is her son weaken her resolve?